Smoke Break; TEN

III

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"Jiyul," the wardens voice sounded. "What's going on?"

You were messing with the control panel in order to set everything up for the following day. "I saw Hana sneak out of here earlier so I came in here to see what she was doing, and a lot of the controls were messed up."

"That girl is trying to do something." Chua tsk'ed. "What do you think she could be up to?"

"I have no idea, Warden. If she's messing with these lock timers though, it could be a prison break."

Her face dropped and you could tell she became irritated. "Thank you, I didn't even think of that, Jiyul. I'll make sure to keep eyes on her."

She left the main office and you went back to sabotaging the control panel. It was the end of your shift, and normally the night shift didn't touch the control panel. The next day, the timing should be perfect and everybody should be stuck in one place.

You checked your watch and realized that it was eight o'clock, so you grabbed your things and headed out. There were so many things going on in your head at once: getting the guys out of prison, Minsu finding your apartment, Hana ruining everything that you had in mind. Luckily you were quick on your feet, so if she did make an attempt to sabotage you, you would definitely be able to put the blame back on her.

You blinked a few times and noticed the lights of the cemetery, so you quickly turned into the melancholy burial ground. You didn't have any flowers, but you still walked over to your mother's grave with a solemn drag of your feet and bent down beside it. She had been gone for twelve years now.

"I know you're not proud of me right now," you chuckled into the silence. "You didn't raise me to be a criminal, but this isn't your fault. I have to get my friends out and we have to do something about Minsu."

You looked up at the sky and saw a brightly shining star. You told yourself that it was your mom.

"I'm doing this for you. You deserved better." You whispered.

You got up with a distinct shakiness in your breath and went back to your car. You didn't realize how cold you were, how much warmth you were missing. You were shaking the whole way back to your apartment, from the cold, from fury, you weren't quite sure.

You pulled into your parking space and looked up at the second level of the apartment building. You noticed a tall figure standing in front of your door, but you could tell that it wasn't your brother. You rolled your eyes out of annoyance and opened up your pocket knife as you got out of your car.

You shut the door to your Lexus LX 570, trying to stay quiet. You quickly got up the stairs and observed the person in front of your door as they leaned against the wall with their back turned toward you. You grabbed their jacket and made them face you as you pushed them into the wall.

"Wang Lei!" You exclaimed once you saw who it was. "Why were you standing up here like a creep?"

He pointed at you. "I was waiting for you! If I was here to hurt you, would I have my back turned to you?"

You rolled your eyes again, but playfully this time. "I guess not."

You unlocked your door and let him inside. He sat on the counter and watched as you took your coat off. He watched the ink on your body slowly being revealed once you started wiping the makeup off, and it made his stomach twist in an odd way. Sometimes, he was jealous of the men that you so closely bound yourself to, but he wanted you to be happy.

"Here are the keys to the house." He announced, pushing them towards you. "Tell me when you get there. I want to make sure you're safe."

"I will, Wang Lei. Thank you." You smiled and patted his head.

The head pat was a gesture that brought you both back to your freshmen year, the year you two dated. You had been close ever since you were kids, but he was actually Minsu's friend before he was yours.

After what Minsu did, Wang Lei was forced to leave your side, even though he so badly wanted to watch out for you. He ignored Minsu completely after that, and the only time he got to see you was during school when your brother wasn't watching.

You were the one who told Wang Lei not to speak of the incident. You didn't want anyone finding out. You were only ten when it happened, but you knew what you wanted to do in the future, when you were old enough to properly think of that kind of thing.

You didn't want Minsu put away for what he did. You wanted to take care of it.

Freshmen year was finally the year you had some freedom. You weren't scared of your brother anymore. Minsu threw a fit when he found out that Wang Lei asked you to the freshmen dance, but you didn't care. After the dance, Wang Lei asked you to be his girlfriend, and thinking it would be nice, you said yes.

You broke up with him a few months in, however, not because you didn't like him, but because the relationship wasn't good. He couldn't come over because of Minsu, you couldn't hang out with him because of Minsu, which led to miscommunication and anger. You were much better as friends, you thought.

"Hey," Wang Lei whispered, pulling you back to reality. "What's on your mind?"

You shook your head absentmindedly. "Minsu found this place. He woke me up and was standing right in front of me with his fancy dress shoes on. He brought a woman here to fight me, because he can't hit a woman." You chuckled bitterly, staring at the loose floorboards in the living room. "Yet, I've seen him do so much worse to a woman. That's how I got this bruise, I let her hit me. I didn't want Minsu to do something to her because she couldn't hit me."

It saddened Wang Lei to know you did those kinds of things. You let yourself get hurt for others, because you knew what being a victim of something was like. You were never hit, but you were mentally, literally trapped for five years before you ran away. You saw things that nobody should ever see.

"Don't let him get to you." Wang Lei grabbed your chin. "Tomorrow, everything will feel like it's back to normal. You'll have your friends, your boyfriend, your freedom."

You nodded and took a deep breath. He was right, everything would feel normal.

Or at least you hoped everything would be normal.

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